Shattered Girl (Emmy) novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100 

“I need to make a couple of calls, and I will be right back,” Patrick said before sliding me off his lap and heading toward his room. I moved closer to Drew, sliding my arm across his waist and resting my head on his chest. We sat quietly, each of us lost in our thoughts. Patrick came back into the living room about twenty minutes later. “Go get your overnight bags. We are getting out of here.” He told us. We all stared at him for several seconds before he continued. “I rescheduled the house viewings for tomorrow, and I want to get you all out of here. We all have phones, so there’s no point just waiting around here. I rented a vacation home near the house we all liked for a few nights. I want to spend some time up there to get a feel for the area; we are driving up there today, so let’s get moving.” 

As the guys stood up and went to their rooms for their bags, I walked up to Patrick, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. I whispered a thank you to him before retrieving my bag. Since we had just returned from the lake house, most of our stuff had still been packed, so it didn’t take long before we were on the road, Patrick behind the wheel. I was sitting between the twins when Jake leaned closer to me. 

“Please don’t ever leave us,” Jake said quietly, linking our hands. 

“Sweetie, I promise I’m not going anywhere. I love you all, and there is nowhere I would rather be,” I promised. Jake let out a shuddering breath, then unbuckled my seat belt and pulled me into his lap. He buried his head into my neck and shook as he quietly cried against me. I gave Josh a surprised look over Jake’s shaking body, and he reached out, giving his twins shoulder a squeeze in support. As Jake began to calm down, Drew passed me a travel pack of tissues that I hoped and handed to jake, who blew his nose and helped me back into my seat, letting me go long enough to buckle myself back up. 

We had missed the rush hour traffic, so it took us less than an hour to get to the vacation house. It was closer to town than the place we would look at but still secluded. The town of Oak Hollow was small, with less than ten thousand people, but it had a small market, so we would have to plan a shopping trip to one of the bigger cities. However, for this trip, the Oak Hollow Market would work fine. Patrick dropped us off at the rental, and then he and Mike drove back to town to pick up some dinner and a few things for breakfast tomorrow. Once they were out of sight, we took all the bags inside and looked around the house. It was small but cute, with only two bedrooms. We would have to get creative with sleeping arrangements, but I was sure the guys would figure it out. Drew directed me to the bigger of the two rooms, and I set my stuff in the room. I was sorting through my bag, pulling out some dirty clothes to throw in the washer, when jake came in. 

“Would you mind if 1 slept in here tonight?” He asked as he set his bag down. 

“Of course not. You are welcome in my bed any time.” When I heard Jake snort, I realized the innuendo behind what I had just said and blushed. Deciding to change the subject before I said anything else embarrassing, I asked if he had any dirty clothes he wanted to be washed tonight. After searching through his bag, he handed me a small pile of clothes. I left him to finish unpacking while I went to the laundry room to start the washing Once the machine was going, I did a quick walkthrough of the kitchen, ensuring everything we needed to make breakfast in the moming. Honestly, I was just making sure there was a coffee machine because the guys had never seen what I was like without caffeine first thing in the morning, and I was not ready to share that knowledge with them yet. I found the machine and some high–end coffee that made me do a little happy dance. I had just settled in the living room with my book when Drew and Mike returned, bringing four bags of food into the kitchen. While Patrick put the groceries away, Mike carried the two bags from a local diner to the dining room and set food containers on the table. The guys are back. I called and went into the kitchen to help. Soon, we were all sitting around the table with containers of mouthwatering burgers and fresh–cut french fries in front of us. The guys attacked their burgers like starving animals, and I wondered if I would have to defend my food, but after slapping Jake’s hand away from my fries, the others didn’t try to steal anything and let me eat in peace.